Torcetrapib News and Research

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Torcetrapib is a drug that substantially raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL (the "good" cholesterol).

Cholesterol drug evacetrapib fails to reduce risk of cardiovascular events

Despite lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL), known as "bad" cholesterol, while markedly increasing levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol, a large clinical trial to investigate the cholesterol drug evacetrapib was discontinued early after a preliminary analysis showed it did not reduce rates of major adverse cardiovascular events, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

4 Apr 2016

New CETP blockers continue to show promise as viable heart drugs

Mindful of lessons from a failed heart drug that cost $800 million to develop, drug companies are taking another shot at new medications that boost levels of so-called "good cholesterol," which removes cholesterol from the body.

23 Feb 2012

Evacetrapib drug may increase HDL-C and decrease LDL-C levels

Among patients with sub-optimal low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, use of the drug evacetrapib alone or in combination with statin medications was associated with significant increases in HDL-C levels and decreases in LDL-C levels, according to a study appearing in the November 16 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cardiovascular disease.

16 Nov 2011

Researchers use MRI and PET/CT to assess safety, efficacy of heart drug dalcetrapib

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time used several imaging techniques to prove the efficacy of a promising new treatment for atherosclerosis—the build-up of plaque in artery walls that can lead to a heart attack.

13 Sep 2011

Larger trial study needed to decide fate of niacin

Niaspan is a cholesterol drug manufactured by Abbott Laboratories. Doctors have customarily prescribed Niacin to raise levels of HDL ("good" cholesterol) in patients taking a statin pill that is successfully lowering their LDL ("bad" cholesterol).

10 Jun 2011

NHLBI stops AIM-HIGH combination clinical trial in high blood cholesterol

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health has stopped a clinical trial studying a blood lipid treatment 18 months earlier than planned. The trial found that adding high dose, extended-release niacin to statin treatment in people with heart and vascular disease, did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and stroke.

27 May 2011

Cholesterol efflux capacity may protect against heart disease: Study

The discovery that high levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease has fostered intensive research to modify HDL levels for therapeutic gain. However, recent findings have called into question the notion that pharmacologic increases in HDL cholesterol levels are necessarily beneficial to patients.

4 Feb 2011

Researchers report results from Phase III DEFINE study for coronary heart disease

Researchers today presented results from the Phase III DEFINE (Determining the EFficacy and Tolerability of CETP INhibition with AnacEtrapib) study with Merck's investigational CETP inhibitor, anacetrapib. In the trial of 1,623 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) or CHD risk equivalents, anacetrapib showed no significant differences from placebo in the primary safety measures studied.

18 Nov 2010

HDL cholesterol can transform from good to bad actor in heart-disease process

We've all heard about the importance of raising HDL, or the so-called "good" cholesterol, and lowering LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, to improve heart health. While we've come to assume HDL cholesterol is an inherently good thing, a new study shows that for a certain group of patients, this is not always the case. The study is the first to find that a high level of the supposedly good cholesterol places a subgroup of patients at high risk for recurrent coronary events, such as chest pain, heart attack, and death.

26 May 2010

Determining success or failure in cholesterol-controlling drugs

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that a complex network of interactions between drugs and the proteins with which they bind can explain adverse drug effects. Their findings suggest that adverse drug effects might be minimized by using single or multiple drug therapies in order to fine-tune multiple off-target interactions.

15 May 2009

Issues on cholesterol: diet, statins and genetics

Genetic lipoprotein disorders are frequently seen in patients with premature coronary artery disease (CAD). An example of strong genetic predisposition is the disorder: familial hypercholesterolemia, where a single gene defect (the low density lipoprotein receptor) contributes to most of the familial expression of CAD.

1 Sep 2008

Caution urged on use of drugs to raise "good" cholesterol

With 40 percent of all heart attacks and related cardiovascular problems occurring in people who have low levels of so-called "good" cholesterol, researchers have long sought medications to increase the amount of this type of cholesterol in the body's circulation.

16 Aug 2007

Effect of Torcetrapib on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis

Investigators report that torcetrapib, a drug that substantially raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL (the "good" cholesterol), did not slow the progression of plaque buildup in the coronary arteries as measured using an ultrasound probe (IVUS).

2 Apr 2007

Addition of torcetrapib to statin therapy has no benefit for atherosclerosis progression

For some patients with high cholesterol, even the most aggressive treatment with statin drugs fails to prevent coronary artery disease.

2 Apr 2007

Statins show extra benefit in raising "good" HDL cholesterol levels

New research suggests that popular statin drugs may not only lower levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol but also raise levels of "good" HDL cholesterol.

7 Feb 2007

Pfizer stops all Torcetrapib trials

On December 2, 2006, FDA was notified that Pfizer will suspend a large, Phase 3 trial evaluating the investigational cardiovascular therapy torceptrapib/atorvastatin (T/A) due to an increased rate of mortality (death) in patients receiving the combination compared to those receiving atorvastatin alone.

4 Dec 2006

Torcetrapib - Lipitor drug combo shows promise

According to drug company Pfizer the results of two mid-stage studies on its experimental cholesterol drug torcetrapib, combined with its cholesterol drug Lipitor, were so promising that the company will continue into the final stage.

15 Nov 2005